Technical Abstract:
The application of trisodium phosphate (TSP) to poultry carcasses is used as an antimicrobial wash to reduce salmonellae during broiler processing. Experiments were conducted to determine the effectiveness of TSP on salmonellae detection immediately after chilling and following 1 wk of refrigerated storage at 2-4 C. All carcasses were sampled using whole carcass enrichment for 24 h at 37 C. For each of two trials, 40 carcasses were obtained from a commercial processing line immediately after the mechanical bird washer (pre-chill) and transported to a pilot processing plant. In each of 5 replicate batches, four carcasses were re-washed in a mechanical bird washer and either subjected to a 5 s TSP dip (Treatment; specific gravity 1.045 to 1.055, temperature 23.3 to 25.6 C), or not dipped (Control). Treatment and control groups were chilled in separate pilot scale ice and water immersion paddle chill tanks for 45 min and allowed to drip for 5 min before bagging. Half of each treatment group were sampled immediately and half following 1 wk storage. For the two trials combined, the control group had 17 out of 20 carcasses salmonellae positive on Day 0 and 15 of 20 positive 1 wk later. The TSP treated group resulted in 9 of 20 salmonellae positives on Day 0 and 7 of 20 positive at 1 wk. The TSP treatment also resulted in an increased chill water pH from 7.0 to 9.4. These preliminary results are not conclusive regarding the effectiveness of TSP and further work is needed to determine if the results obtained thus far are due to the TSP dip or the long term effects of TSP on chill water pH during the pilot chilling trials.
Key Words: salmonellae, TSP, broilers, whole carcass enrichment